hi all!

i love reading about all of your experiences, so i thought it might help me stay motivated if i posted my own.

i'm not 100% raw by any means...this is all fairly new to me. i definitely grew up on THE typical american diet, and tried every fad diet under the sun, with little to no real results. weight has always been an issue. then a few years ago, i developed a horrible allergy problem. for months i was taking sudafed, claritin, afrin....blah. it only got worse, and one day i just had an absolute attack. the sneezing just would not stop...i went through almost an entire bottle of afrin in a day!!! awful.

i had been reading about the master cleanse, and decided to go for it. so last march, i did 10 days of "lemonade", followed by 2 days of orange and grapefruit juice. i was surprised at how great i felt during the cleanse...i had been really nervous about being hungry...but the best part was after the cleanse.

i was afraid that as soon as i put solid food in my mouth, my willpower would crumble. but instead, all i wanted to eat was raw foods! for the following week, i ate fruits, salads, and non-heated "soups", and it was AMAZING!

i slowly transitioned back into a cooked diet. i still drank tons of raw juice, but i didn't feel quite as good as i had during that cleanse. my allergies, which had nearly vanished during the cleanse, returned, though admittedly not nearly as strong.

so anyway, now i am living in brazil, and just being exposed to all of these insane new fruits and veggies i am seeing has made me crave eating raw again! i really want to take advantage of living in a place where it's so easy to find fresh coconuts, açai, and all the other hundreds of fruits i'd never even heard of before. just by doing this, naturally, i have been eating less and less cooked food, and it feels great.

i also found a great website....fitday.com....where you can log everything you've eaten and all your daily activities. it shows you not only how many calories, fat, and carbs your eating, but also vitamins and minerals. and it's free!

my favorite thread on this forum is the recipes...if anyone has recipes to share with me please post them here!!! for now, i'll finish my watermelon/banana smoothie and go lay out in the sun for a bit.


michelle

Oi Michelle

You are sooo lucky...the perfect place to eat raw fruit! Take advantage of it!


I hope you have an awesome winter there (I hope to spend a winter there too sometime.)

I just posted a little blurb about Brazil on my raw diary.

Are you able to get to the beach often? I would heartily suggest going a few times weekly if not daily and going swimming in the ocean..or just lazily, happily get rolled by the waves

And can you tell me, what you think of the native people there? How their temperaments seems so far to you, how their health is, if you think many of them look fit, and healthy? I'd love to know this, as I've heard that there are many beautiful people in Brazil.

I'd love to know what the diet is for native population, the ones that eat their original or close to their original traditional diets.

You are very lucky, to have found raw foods, and be in Brazil!

Love,
Prism

Hi Michelle !!!

Welcome to the forum ,you are in brazil , you lucky girl . Winter is right around the corner where I am.....snow already . I was able to get a hold of 80 pounds of organic , sun rippened apples at an excellent price . I wish you well on your raw journey .

thanks for the welcome everyone!!!

aguadecoco-- LOVE your name! i'm drinking agua de coco right now! have you been to brazil? when do you plan on visiting?

prism-- oh, i love the beach. i spent the weekend at a friends beach house....soooooo tranquil.

as far as the native people and their diet....it's very interesting. it is true that brazilians as a people are very beautiful...in my opinion this is because they "mix"....meaning it is very common for people of various skin colors to have children. it's a very diverse country....many white people, many black, and the largest number of japanese people outside of japan...but most people are a combination of everything. it's quite lovely. on the other hand, this is also the plastic surgery capital of the world, so don't credit all the beauty to a healthy lifestyle!
the food is wonderful. for me, obviously, the best part by far is the amazing variety of fruits. many café's here serve real juice- fresh squeezed, or in some cases the fruit and water in a blender. they add sugar if you want. there is also a company called "brasfrut" that sells frozen pulps in 3.5 packages. unfortunately, they are pasteurized...but it is only the pulp, with no sugar or gunk added, so it's still a step up from sunny d!! there's also TONS of stands selling coconuts, cold or natural temp...costs about 50 cents, they just chop off a hole in the top, stick in a straw, and you're good to go!

i live in salvador, which is in the state of bahia. bahian food is definitely it's own thing...different from the rest of brazil. the slave trade came in through salvador, so the food is very heavily influenced by african cooking. lots of fried food...fried in dendé (palm) oil, which is extremely high in sat. fat (but has tons and tons of vitamin A). beans and rice with every meal, topped with farofa...a flour made from cassava. lots of meat...beef, pork, chicken. seafood...large variety of fish, crabs, shrimp shrimp shrimp and more shrimp. the most famous dishes from bahia are feijoada- black beans slow cooked with various cuts of pork served with rice- acarajé- a dough is made from raw black-eyed peas, deep fried in dendé, and filled with peppers and shrimp- and moqueca- a stew made with dendé, coconut water, fish and/or shrimp, and various veggies and herbs. although a lot of the food is high in fat and fried, it's still made with fresh ingredients and, to me, is light years better health-wise than a big mac!

probably the healthiest habit here is the fact that lunch is the biggest and most important meal of the day. breakfast for the typical brazilian is light...fruit, bread, coffee....lunch is salad, beans, rice, meat entree, fruit or dessert, and strong coffee. dinner is usually a few leftovers, or soup, or salad. very light, so at least they don't sleep with all of that heavy food in their bellies!
as far as temperment goes....these are some of the friendliest, most welcoming people on the planet!! they treat strangers like family...when you meet a brazilian you will get a hug and a kiss on each cheek. if you are invited to a strangers home you will at the very least get coffee...more often then not you'll get a 3 course meal! it is very easy to ask a stranger on the street for directions or help...they are all very willing.

paulina- thanks for the welcome! where do you live? i love the snow....not so good for fresh fruits though, huh? 80 lbs of apples, my god!!! you should make some pies!


well, today was great raw-wise! i tried to be more conscious with food-combining- fruit smoothie for breakfast, big salad with a little olive oil and almonds for lunch, a giant plate of various fruits for an early dinner, and right now i'm drinking a fresh coconut and plan on making a smoothie out of the meat and a banana when i'm done! MMMMMM!!!

No pies for me yet , even if raw . I can't mentally deal with those kinds of foods right now . I am ready ready for my 5 day fast and I am hoping to stay 100% raw for the next 30 days or longer . My husband doesn't understand or want to understand what I am doing. We are an older couple with young children at home , he just thinks that I am going through menopause.....He is right ....I am starting to go through menopause ....I think.....lol. But that is not why I am doing this. My family ,mother ,brothers ,sisters and my dad , they are all very ill ,cancer ,heart problems , kidney failure . My mom just finished 5 rounds of chemo and her cancer is still spreading . My sister and brother are doing very poorly , their health is deteriating very rapidly . I want to stay healthy for as long as I can....and I believe that raw is the way to do it .

wow, paulina....i'm so sorry about your family.
i completely understand...my uncle and my father-in-law both died of cancer a few years ago. cancer really terrifies me...BIG part of the reason i'm eating more raw now.
hopefully once your husband sees your commitment and your good health he will be on board!
i'll keep your family in my thoughts.



so i last night i thought i'd made the best smoothie ever, but the one i just made is already trying to win the title!
last night i bought a young green coconut and drank the water. afterwards, i scraped out the meat and put it in a blender with banana and mango...oh....my....god....i'm an ice cream addict, but just put that mix in the freezer for a little bit and i'll never need ice cream again!! the coconut makes it so creamy....

then this morning i blended 2 pears with a handful of mint leaves and a handful of spinach....can't even taste the spinach, just fresh, minty pear. MMMMMM!!!

and i'm so excited....i found raw cacau today!!! i have a whole raw cacau in my kitchen. and i have no clue what to do with it! any suggestions? i actually don't know much about cacau, other than it's where chocolate comes from, so it can't be bad!

yumyumyum....love this raw food thing.

I use raw carob yum...yum .I have 5 or 6 raw recipe books with delicious desserts using raw chocolate , I just use the raw carob instead . Thank you for keeping us in your thoughts ....I apreciate that very much ......thank you .

anytime, paulina!
mmm, raw carob....need to learn how to say that in portuguese so i can see if they have it here.


well, today has been great so far! after that wonderful mint pear smoothie, i had a huge salad for lunch. arugula, spinach, parsley, carrots, tomatoes, cucumbers, celery, almonds, avocado (mmmmmmm), a little olive oil and lime juice.....really really good. pretty fatty though, between the olive oil and the avocado, but i'm not too concerned.

just made a smoothie with banana, mango, and pineapple for dinner. doing much better with the food combining today!

all of your smoothies sound delicious!!! it must be awesome to be in brazil- it seems like it's a raw foodist's paradise! have you always lived there, or are you there temporarily?

let us know how the raw cacao recipes turn out!

it is indeed awesome in brazil.....i've only been here for a few months, i'm actually from texas. hopefully i'll be here for awhile though!

the markets are fabulous....just such a huge variety of fruits. and because of the year-round warm climate, there's always tons of stuff in season. very good for a raw foodie!

still haven't touched the cacao.....going to research it online now!

man....

just showed up to work and one of the teachers i work with handed me a whole cacao. she rocks! but i still haven't figured out what to do with the first one!!

she did, however, tell me that when i cut it open, i need to peel the beans (with my teeth or fingernails) and let them dry, then grind them. i don't have a dehydrator....any thoughts? i shall experiment tonight!!

yesterday was good....had an apple/pear/mint/spinach smoothie in the am, salad with guacamole for lunch, and a banana/pineapple smoothie later. then i went out with a friend to run some errands and had corn juice..."suco de milho verde". i don't know how they do it, but it's amazing...very popular here. there's got to be milk in it, but that's okay....i only had about 10 oz, so i don't feel too bad. it's soooo good.....cold, thick, and creamy like a....cornbread milkshake.

then we went to a birthday party....really fun, but lots of cake and stuff. the thing is, i honestly wasn't tempted...i think i've reached the point (at least temporarily) where the need for instant gratification isn't that strong. when i look at food, i don't just think about putting it in my mouth, i think about what i feel like after i'm finished eating it. there was a huge, gorgeous chocolate cake, i know it tasted fantastic....but all i could think about was that sugary, over-full feeling i knew i'd have if i had a piece. so it was honestly really easy to say no.

the problem is, i'm afraid that i might have offended the hostess. people just couldn't believe i didn't want to eat....and since i'm a foreigner, i really really don't want to offend....but it get's really annoying when people just won't drop it. my friend kept asking....want some bread? just a little piece? of course you want cake! etc etc....finally my husband stuck up for me and told her "just let her be, she doesn't want any." i know she meant well, but....eh. i guess everyone on this board can relate, right?

other than that, everything's great! had a banana/pineapple/mango smoothie this morning, will have salad and cashews for lunch, and will experiment with my first (two!) cacao's tonight!!!


michelle

Brasileiros are so friendly and nice and they want to be kind to you, so they probably try hard to find the thing that would make you feel most welcome. When I lived in France (I'm Canadian), it was similar - they wanted me to eat and drink lots of wine, but I just couldn't keep up to them.

I haven't been to Brasil but have plans to go, hopefully during their summer, and would like to spend time where I have friends, (SP and Recife area), but also travel around to Minas Gerais and Porto Alegre. I'm a little concerned about their airlines!

I'm studying portugues and can make myself understood most of the time, but have yet to study grammar, so you can imagine how difficult it must be for them to understand me well.

I won't be able to go this year, unfortunately, but will asap, just need to free myself from the usual ties we develop in this culture.

It's interesting to hear about your experiences there - what kind of work do you and your husband do, if you don't mind saying?

I guess you'll learn to samba like the natives - what fun!

aquadecoco....i hear you about france! my parents lived there for a few years...sooo much food and wine, it's amazing. really yummy though.

i've been to SP (so insanely huge) but not recife....would LOVE to see it, the pictures are gorgeous.
nós podemos praticar nosso portuguese juntos!
my husband and i are both english and music teachers. we're percussionists, so we can play samba....don't know about dancing it, though!!


so the past two days have been amazing.....yesterday i went hiking to a waterfall! it was an all-day hike, and so so beautiful. i thought i'd wake up sore and tired today, but i'm feeling great! i got up at 8 and have had lots of energy all day.

oh oh oh...i finally cracked open that cacao! it's interesting...looks like little alien pods. i separated the beans from the coating...i guess the coating is the pulp? it was sweet, the coating. i let the beans dry out overnight, and in the morning i made a banana and pineapple smoothie with a handful of the beans.

the beans turned this yellow smoothie into a sort of purple color. it didn't taste like chocolate...at first all i really tasted was banana. but after a few sips i realized that it had this really creamy taste, like i'd added heavy cream or condensed milk. it's awesome. and i'm pretty sure it gave me an energy boost....this was at 5:45 the morning of the hike and i felt great, which i normally DO NOT that early in the morning!!

hope everyone else is doing wonderfully!

michelle

your hike to the waterfall sounds amazing! nature never fails to take my breath away. the raw cacao sounds great, too! you have so many great tropical fruits there!

that's awesome that you're an english teacher. my best friend and i are planning to get TESL certified next year to be able to go teach english in amsterdam- it's so hard to get a work permit there, but there's a high demand for native english speakers and the pay is good, plus we'd get to meet a lot of different people. i'm so excited to think that could be my life in a year or so!

you're doing great! i think the thing i love most about raw foodists is the energy that just radiates from them! everyone on here is just full of positivity and bliss. it's the best!

hi michelle

i am just sending you warm and vibrant energies

i wish for you to enjoy and savor every moment in brasil

to taste of the great and luscious fruits

and be surrounded by the warmth and vibrance of the wonderful people

the yellow cacao sounded so interesting

i only know of the brown cacao

and have never really seen an entire big cacao where u can pick out the seeds

i am wondering how the entire fruit loooks

instead of just the individual beans which i have purchased in their brown paper natural wrapping

what u said about brasilian people
brought back some beautiful memories

have a joyous time

and enjoy your delicious raw journey

Hi Michelle - seems like to do the samba you have to imagine you're a maraca being shaken by some giant hand! Def requiring practice!


The fisherman joke - yeah that is a coincidence! I'm surprised and impressed that it's in an Eng. text!

I have seen webphotos of cacao beans and pods, but after buying a bag of the nibs, I am surprised there is anything sweet in the pods!!

Whenever I talk to my friends there and ask what they're doing, (MSN usually) they often reply something like: 'tomando do acai' or 'sou indo na praia' or 'falando com os amigos'- just simple, heavenly activities!

Salvador is so close to the equator - how are you finding the heat?


Btw, if you know of any good Portugues grammar books, please let me know - I only have a verb book and dictionary and just muddle my way through grammatically.

la_veronique....don't worry, i'm enjoying my time here VERY much! the cacao is pretty crazy....it's shaped kind of like a football, and i've seen various shades of green, red, yellow, and orange. the gourd is really easy to break open, and the hollow inside has a long stem with a bunch of pods growing off of it. the pods are white and covered with the pulp, so they're wet. you can suck off the pulp (it's sweet and yummy), and the cocoa bean is covered with a thin skin that sort of resembles an onion peel. it's easy to peel off, and then you have a lovely dark purple-brown cocoa bean! good stuff.

aquadecoco...that sounds like brazilians! we're going to the beach today...it's another national holiday, so no work.
you know, i love the weather here....year round the high doesn't vary outside of 72-85 degrees. coming from texas, where the high in summer is consistently over 100....this is heaven! and the nights are always perfect for sitting outside.
it is difficult to find good grammar books...i took lessons in texas with a woman who provided her textbook from berlitz. it was fantastic. if you find berlitz's website you may be able to purchase one from them.



well, still doing great with the raw! i've been doing a lot of reading on the internet about various things....juices, green smoothies, dirty colons, fast food.....all HUGE motivators to stay raw. i have no desire for cooked food as of yet. but i'm going to a friends beach house today, and i know there's gonna be lots of barBQ, beans and rice, etc.....hopefully if i don't eat much of it i won't offend anyone.

have a great weekend, everyone!

michelle

phew, it's been awhile!

well, i went to the beach this weekend....and had a very seriously non-raw day thursday. like i said, i never wanted to be 100%, but i went waaaaay overboard. meat...beer,...bread....coffee....cheese....oh my god.

i woke up extremely early friday morning, sat up, and was so overwhelmed with nausea that i passed out cold on my bed. when i came to, i just barely made it to the bathroom in time to vomit...a LOT.

i know throwing up is not good, but i've got to say i'm really glad all of that junk didn't stay in my body. UGH.

needless to say, all i wanted friday was raw. raw watery fruits, like watermelon and apples. TONS of coconut water. same on saturday. yesterday i was about 90% raw...today same. feel MUCH better.

in a way, i'm glad i had that experience. i so do NOT want cooked food right now! i know that my extreme sickness was due more to lack of moderation than to what i ate, but still.....ew ew ew.

so i'm back on track now.

so how's everyone else?


michelle

i'm becoming a coconut addict.

there's a guy right down the street from my apt. that sells green coconuts, and i've had one every day this week. the water is so good, and when you put the jelly in a smoothie with banana and mango.......mmmmmmmmmmm.......

but the bad news....the market doesn't have avocado this week! AAAA! i miss my guacamole.

other than that everything has been fantastic....no straying from raw since last week's little mishap.

today:
apple/lime/beet smoothie (btw, an apple in the blender with the juice of half a lime is a LOT like apple cider....add some cinnamon,...yummy)

banana/pear/spinach smoothie

salad with some beautiful organic romaine, radishes, carrots, squash, tomatoes, purple onions, lime juice, olive oil, and herbs.

in a little bit, i'll get another coconut, and later make a smoothie with the jelly, bananas, and STRAWBERRIES!!! i found some at the market! they're a little tough to find here, so i'm excited.

and for tonight, i have a big watermelon quarter just waiting in the fridge.

yumyumyum.....



oh, the only complaint i have....i used to make this really great raw corn salad, and i've been craving it. so i got some ears of corn at the market and....blah. it was extremely chewy, not at all like the raw corn i've had before. is this because it was old? or is the corn different here? i hope i just bought some old stuff...i love raw corn.

hope everyone is doing great!


michelle

Oi Michelle,tudo bem?Que bom que voce esta gostando do Brasil. Eu sou de Minas Gerais,mas moro em NY a 14 anos.Vou ao Brasil todo ano. Nunca fui a Bahia,mas tenho uma amigona bahiana em Sao Paulo onde eu morei por 8 anos.
E,as frutas ai sao maravilhosas e os sucos naturais, e o coco e demais!!!
Isso e uma das minhas maiores saudades dai.

Se voce quiser conversar mais em portugues a gente pode conversar,mas aqui e bom tambem escrever em ingles pra todo mundo ler.

cacao is delicious as a juice.Ask the bahianos to teach you to make cacao juice.
Another thing,if you go to a place and don't want to eat,just say that you are doing some experiment in vegetarianism.They are going to make jokes and later on they will forget.Food to brasilians is very important,but I believe they will understand(though they will think you are crazy for not eat meat).Every time I go there they think I got vegan because I live here.

Tem uma garota/mulher no Brasil quem falou aqui tem muitos meses:

[www.rawfoodsupport.com]

Falando no portugues com a gente cru... que bom!

I don't know how can I contact her.I went to her site and I couldn't send her a message.Very interesting site though.

Hy Cy, maybe you could post a comment or sign up for the updates and include a comment with your email address?

I exchanged a few private messages with her. I would like to meet her when I go to Brasil since there are so few there crudivores there and I am very interested in environmental issues, as she is.

Maybe I will post a comment asking for some kind of contact info, as well - I couldn't visit without an address, could I?!!


Cy when do you go to Brasil? Soo nice that you go every year!

Hi Aquadecoco,I go to Brasil for a month on June,or sometimes on July but next year I might go on August because of my mother's birthday and also it is much better because it is the end of the winter and it is much warmer there (70-75). June is always 50 and for me is cold.

Next year I'll go on December because Christmas for me is Christmas when it is hot.
For me it is strange to have Christmas in the winter,eventhough I live here 14 years now I can't feel it.I always remember December,beach,sea food,and Christmas.

That's wonderful!

I would like to go any time of the year, but of course would love December, January, February (party!) the best.

How long is the whole trip for you, from the time you leave your airport to the time you arrive at your mother's house (approximately)? I think it takes a long time, like 2 days, right?

It takes 9 hours from NY-JFK to Rio or Sao Paulo. I go to Sao Paulo and take another 45 mins flight to my State.

If you go at the end of January you will get the Carnaval in February.
In Bahia where Michelle is it is carnaval and party all the time ,all year,but February is the real and biggest carnaval party.
Very crazy I have to say,you have to be in shape because it is jumping and dancing ALL THE TIME,no sleeping what so ever.

woo-hoo carnaval!!!!!

wow, i need to check my diary more. you guys are awesome.

cy....tudo beleza! acho que vocé fala ingles MAIS melhor do que eu falo portuguese. porém eu posso tentar!!

cacao juice....okay, i've had "suco de cacau", made from the pulp, not the bean...is that what you mean? it's really good, but unfortunately it's pasteurized. or is there a drink i can make with the beans? so far all i'm doing is adding them to smoothies.



well, i haven't posted in awhile...but i'm still really really loving this raw thing. i haven't faltered since the evil beach experience. i love my huge salad for lunch, and my smoothies...i think i'm doing a pretty good job getting a good variety in. cooked food is becoming less and less tempting...

for example, when i was SAD, i loved "salads"...you know, lettuce topped with bacon, cheese, egg, croutons, and ranch dressing. as i grew older, i began to enjoy the taste of veggies more, but i still liked some feta cheese, and lots of olive oil.

now, i still like the thought of cheese, but NOT on my salads!! my typical lunch salad has tons of different veggies, including tomatoes...and today i discovered that when you cut the tomato, if you pour all the juice/seeds that squish out on top of your salad with lime juice, sea salt, and herbs...it makes a great salad dressing! you don't even need oil!! that's amazing to me...i'll still use olive oil sometimes if i don't have any avocados or nuts for the day, but i can't believe i can eat a salad that's actually ONLY veggies. crazy.

a long cry from the good old healthy "cobb" salad, right?



michelle

Hi Michelle,I had suco de cacao pasteurized too,but I'm pretty sure that you can have it with the beans.Ask the bahianos,they might know better them me that are mineira.
You have such a great recipes.I'm doing your peach and mint smoothie and I'm loving it.First pressed virgen olive oil is very good for you.I try to have at least 2 tablespoons a day.And it is excellent for your liver too.If you drink lemon juice and 1 tablespoon of olive oil in the morning you will eliminate a lot of liver stones.
I'll try your tomato dressing.Very good idea!!!Wow!!You have wonderful ideas for recipes.PLEASE, write them for us.
Are you going to be in Bahia for Carnaval?In fact after New Year is the Carnaval,the official is in February,but January starts the "party" and Bahia is the biggest one in Brasil.If you like jumping,dancing and a lot of parties and music this is the place to be for carnaval.

cy.....CLARO!!! i'm really excited about carnaval, it'll be my first one here. i have been to carnaval in trinidad, which is 2nd biggest after brazil. and i grew up in new orleans, so i have a few mardi gras under my belt. but carnaval here looks amazing...i can't wait!

thanks for the recipe compliment! i just stumbled across the tomato juice thing. i LOVE olive oil and am not trying to cut it out....but i used to have to pour it all over my salad. i just can't believe i can enjoy vegetables....just vegetables, alone, you know? that was really shocking to me.

here's a smoothie i made the other night that i LOVED.....

1 small papaya
1 medium banana
6 strawberries
blend with water
add handful fresh mint leaves
add 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
blend again

yum. i think papaya might be a good pumpkin alternative...it goes REALLY well with cinnamon!!

this morning i just had this one:
1 apple
blend with water
small handful chopped beets
few mint leaves
blend

can you tell i like mint? it helps with the beets a lot....for some reason, i like beet juice, but in smoothies the taste gets to me a little bit. but i know they're really good for the liver, and i don't have a juicer....adding mint helps, it was just like mint apple juice, not much of a beet taste.

cy, you've given me an idea....next time i buy a cacao, i'm not going to remove the pulp from the beans. i'll just throw it all in a blender, maybe with banana or something, and see what happens. and i'll definitely ask around about juice with the beans!


okay, so guess what....one of the girls i work with brought me "tabletes de cacao" yesterday....homemade ground cacao beans and sugar pressed into little tablets. no milk or any other ingredient.

i am a dark chocolate junkie....and this was the most intense chocolate experience i have ever had. i really need to get a coffee grinder and some agave or honey so i can start making this myself. and oh my gosh, did i ever have an energy rush....raw cacao is amazing!!!!

then after work i found a place nearby that sells organic "suco de clorofila"...chlorophyll juice? all it said was "grama de trigo" (powdered grass), so i don't know if it was wheat or barley grass or what, but i drank 500 mL so between that and the cacao i was a freakin hummingbird last night!!!




michelle